The 66-year-old retiree and history buff noticed that a prominent plaque commemorating the First World War was missing earlier this month from the Montreal neighbourhood of Lachine.

That’s the sixth time Sims says it has been taken in the past 10 years.

“I don’t understand why they would take it. It just seems totally ridiculous,” Sims, a member of the Lachine Historical Society, told the Star in a phone interview Wednesday morning.

“They have no respect for the dead or for our soldiers that served. I just feel that it’s like desecrating a grave site almost.”

Known as the Dixie Roll of Honour, the plaque was originally made of bronze. It is affixed to a stone slab at the corner of 53rd Ave. and Saint-Joseph Boul. and lists the names of locals who fought in the war.

Sims said a friend told him that the plaque was missing around Jan. 8 or 9.

“I thought he was just maybe joking, so I got in my car and went to see, and sure enough it was missing,” he said.

Denis Gaumond, political attaché for Lachine Mayor Claude Dauphin, told the Star the borough was looking at replacing the plaque “very soon” with a $700 replacement made from plastic composite that “looks exactly like bronze.”

In the past, the borough replaced the stolen plaque with an aluminum version, but that was also stolen, Gaumond said.

“A lot of places are doing that now (using composites) because they’re tired of having their bronze plaques stolen,” he said.

“Another thing we’re looking at is maybe improve the lighting around the area, around the memorial, that way to discourage would-be thieves.”

Sylvain Bissonnette, commander of a police station in Lachine, said police don’t have any suspects or leads as to who is behind the robbery. He encouraged the public to contact police if they have any information.

“We’re not taking it lightly,” Bissonnette told the Star.

“It’s our past, it’s our heritage, and I think we should be able to protect that.”

Sims said he wants the city to light the area better and maybe install a security camera to prevent future robberies.

“There’s got to be some better way of attaching it, or some type of security, or something done to keep that plaque from being stolen,” Sims said.

André Robichaud, the treasurer of the Lachine Historical Society, said he was first hearing of the theft when contacted by the Star on Wednesday morning.

He said at the time of the First World War, the area where the memorial is located housed about 30,000 war horses destined for Europe. “That’s why it’s always been considered an area associated with the military,” Robichaud said.

Robichaud said commemorative war plaques could be found in several areas of Lachine in the 1930s, but “they’ve practically all disappeared.” Most, he said, were stolen for their monetary value.

Sims, who has lived in Lachine for 63 years, said the thefts are disrespectful of the sacrifices Canadians have made in war.

“I was a cadet while I was in high school and my father served in the war. He was one of the first soldiers who went overseas from Canada. I’ve always been very interested in war history,” he said.

“I really feel that a lot of people don’t understand the great sacrifice that Canadians made during the different wars we’ve served in.”